Lakota School Board Narrows Superintendent Search to Two Strong Candidates

Posted on 02/03/2017

Finalists Receive Top Rankings from Both Board and Community

In its search to find the district’s next superintendent, the Lakota Local Schools Board of Education has narrowed its superintendent search to two strong candidates: Dr. Keith Kline and Mr. Matthew Miller.

“During the first round of interviews, we were fortunate for the opportunity to meet a solid pool of candidates, all with prior superintendent experience in districts both locally and regionally,” said Lakota Board President Ben Dibble. “While we appreciate all of their interest in Lakota, Dr. Kline and Mr. Miller most closely embodied the skills, values and overall experience that will help our district continue making progress for the benefit of all our students.”

Both candidates have been invited to participate in a final round interview with the board on Thursday, February 9. This will allow the district to expedite their original timeline and make a final decision earlier than planned.

The board conducted first round interviews with eight candidates selected from the original pool of 17. Keeping with its commitment to involve the community at critical points throughout the process, the board also invited a cross-section of staff, parents, business leaders and residents to ask questions of the candidates and provide feedback.

“Part of our decision involved reviewing the community input collected earlier in this process, as well as the feedback given by the 24 community members who participated in the recent meet and greet,” Dibble said. “It was reassuring to see that this group’s feedback aligned with that of the board’s.”

Dr. Kline has served as the superintendent for West Clermont Local School District for the last three years. His 23 years of administrative experience includes 15 years at Lakota, last serving as the principal at Lakota East High School. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education, as well as a doctorate in educational leadership, from Miami University. He has been a Lakota resident for 28 years.

Mr. Miller’s superintendent experience spans 12 years, the last four of which he’s spent at Mentor Public Schools. He offers 17 years of administrative experience, serving as both a principal and director of student services and instruction before becoming a superintendent. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the University of Cincinnati. Most recently, he graduated from the Leadership Institute of Superintendents at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

“Both candidates demonstrated strong records of success in advancing their districts’ educational programming in ways that valued both community collaboration and financial responsibility,” Dibble said. “In the eyes of our board and the voices in our community, these themes are critically important to the future success of Lakota.”

The board intends to update the community after the next round of interviews.